One Direction: Powerpuff Yourself generator is an April Fools' Day pick-me-up

Fridays are hard. This is especially true on April Fools’ Day, when nothing is what it appears and red herrings from celebs, production companies, and brands alike spread like viral wildfire online.

But this post isn’t a condemnation of Corporate Fun Day; instead, it’s an ode to life’s stupid, simple pleasures. Like creating Powerpuff Girls versions of boy band One Direction.

Nothing could have turned April Fools’ Day around like the Powerpuff Yourself generator, which Cartoon Network created in advance of the series’ April 4 premiere. And as a person who keenly, genuinely hopes that 1D will one day reunite, my first move after being sent the generator by a co-worker was putting serious thought and effort into Powerpuff’ing Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. (And Zayn Malik.) Here we go:

Powerpuff Payne stands in front of a heart background, because he’s my favorite, and the background choices were limited. (I love them all, of course, but every parent has a favorite child, okay?) As the band’s second-most prolific songwriter — and resident Juicy J collaborator — he’s toting around a notebook for all of his in-progress songs. While his hair is a bit shorter these days, I’ll always fondly remember the quiff and hope for its return.

The band’s resident guitar-playing bottle blond cheerfully plays his instrument of choice while standing in front of a lush green background. (Horan is from Ireland, which is also poetically referred to as the Emerald Isle; I wasn’t joking: I really put thought into this.)

My apologies to Styles. There was no Powerpuff hairstyle that adequately captured his curly, ever-growing mane, nor were there any Yves Saint Laurent shirts unbuttoned to the navel. But in his blue jeans and brown shoes, I hoped to evoke the skinny jeans and tan Chelsea boots that are his staples. The camera he’s toting is in honor of his photography hobby, as seen in his Twitter avatar and more. I’ve decided the city is L.A., which he’s made his home of late.

Tomlinson loves a side-swept fringe. His mischevious expression is an homage to his love of onstage pranks — remember that time he tore open Payne’s shirt? I sure do — and the soccer ball speaks to his love of the sport. An avid videogame fan who allegedly spent upwards of $8,000 to up his FIFA score, the background was an obvious choice.

Malik might have left One Direction in pursuit of a solo career, but an early exit does not preclude him from getting Powerpuff’ed. Though his hair is buzzed short these days, the shaved-head options were not cute, and I am a kind and benevolent Powerpuff maker. His expression is morose because he’s upset that I did this to him, and the boombox is so he can bop his head to his own dope beats.